Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal peril deepens as his defense comes up short
washingtonpost.com
Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal peril deepens as his defense comes up short::undefined
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Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal peril deepens as his defense comes up short::undefined
He's going down for a long time, and personally I think he's an over-confident, misguided fool.
But I don't think he's a crook, in the sense that he originally set out to be dishonest from day one.
I think his well-intentioned, cocky plans turned to shit when he found himself playing a game of cryptopoly with other people's real money and landed on the "Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass 'Go'. Do not collect £200“ square.
I feel ever so slightly sorry for him. His entire life is now fucked.
I think the vast majority of criminals didn't set out to become criminals. Circumstances presented the opportunity and they took it. Hence entrapment being (technically) outlawed, lest the police and/or media create crimes for their own profitable purposes.
While his ADHD probably does provide relevant context (the grandiose ambitions, and inability to keep tabs on reality or paperwork), he knew what he was doing was criminal and buried himself in Effective Altruism to provide the self-justification. It's for the greater good, yaknow (where the greater good is getting filthy rich while promising to use the money for good, eventually, honest).
I think he feels sorry for himself but remember: he absolutely knew he was illegally misusing customer funds. And he openly talked about it in meetings with other businesses as if it was normal and fine.
So I don't feel sorry for him. He's an idiot who was given enough rope and he's certainly hung himself.